In reviewing the Flat Classroom Project I was excited to begin thinking about how I could make use of this type of lesson in my classroom. My favorite project that I feel would fit best in my Family & Consumer Sciences classroom was the "A week in the life" project. The project was originally designed for 8-10 year old students, but I feel it's relevance is multi-disciplinary and would be a great experience for students of almost any age.
One of the parts of the project that particularly interested me was, of course, the idea of sharing the project with, lets say, a foreign language teacher. We could have the students learning about the culture of which they are learning the language as well as the foods (which is where I would want to particularly focus) as well as the customs and in general what it's like to be a kid from that country. Learning the history, language and customs of a nation from reading from a text book is one thing, but the authenticity of learning from another child what it's really like to live there, well I can say, as an educator, WOW! Constructivist, student centered learning is totally the name of this game.
So, seeing things like this that are available to some classrooms is a wonderful idea. Making it happen is another thing. It can be difficult to have access to the computers and technical support that would be required to do this type of project. But, I am really excited to try these new things despite the technical difficulties that I may encounter.
One of the parts of the project that particularly interested me was, of course, the idea of sharing the project with, lets say, a foreign language teacher. We could have the students learning about the culture of which they are learning the language as well as the foods (which is where I would want to particularly focus) as well as the customs and in general what it's like to be a kid from that country. Learning the history, language and customs of a nation from reading from a text book is one thing, but the authenticity of learning from another child what it's really like to live there, well I can say, as an educator, WOW! Constructivist, student centered learning is totally the name of this game.
So, seeing things like this that are available to some classrooms is a wonderful idea. Making it happen is another thing. It can be difficult to have access to the computers and technical support that would be required to do this type of project. But, I am really excited to try these new things despite the technical difficulties that I may encounter.